Riding the Raisina Tiger

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A day after
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said those who had inflicted pain on India
“would also feel the pain”, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said there
was “no reason” to distrust Pakistan’s commitment of “action” against
perpetrators of the Pathankot attack.

Talking to
mediapersons on the sidelines of a function in Noida, Rajnath said, “India has
given inputs related to terror attacks to Pakistan. The Pakistan government has
promised to take action. I think we should wait.”

Insisting
that since Pakistan has assured India, the minister said, there should be no
reason to disbelieve them so early. “There is no reason to distrust them
(Pakistan) so early,” he said.

After the
attack, India had said it has provided to Pakistan actionable intelligence to
act upon the perpetrators of the attack. During a post-attack telephonic
conversation between PM Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz
Sharif, the government had said, “Our PM very strongly urged the Pakistan PM to
take action”.

It had said,
“Actionable intelligence in regard to the terror attack and the links with the
perpetrators in Pakistan were provided to Pakistan. The Pakistan PM promised us
prompt and decisive action. We now wait for its action.”

Meanwhile,
reports from Pakistan yesterday said law enforcement agencies had picked up
“some suspects” connected to the Pathankot attack from Bahawalpur district, the
hometown of Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of banned terror outfit
Jaish-e-Mohammad.

India has identified
Masood Azhar as the mastermind of the attack. It also blamed his brother Rauf
and five others for carrying out the attack that killed six terrorists and
seven soldiers on January 2.

In another
development related to a nexus between the international drug smugglers and
officials of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Mohali CIA wing arrested one
more BSF personnel for facilitating the traffickers in smuggling at least 60 kg
heroin and weapons from Pakistan, here.

Giving
details, Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the
Mohali CIA wing arrested BSF head constable Prem Singh (45) for helping the
international drug smugglers, Gurjant Singh, alias Bholu, and Sandip Singh,
twice between August and November in 2014. Prem Singh had helped them in
smuggling two different consignments, consisting of 30 kg of heroin each and
foreign-made weapons from the Fazilka border, as he was posted there at that
time.

“Prem Singh had
facilitated the smugglers by telling them his location of duty at the border
and let the consignments be smuggled from that point. To make things easier for
the smugglers, the official even used to divert the attention of his colleague
by indulging in talks or even taking him for a walk along the border”, said the
SSP.

It is to be noted that
with the arrest of Prem Singh, the number of BSF officials, involved in the
drug trafficking case, has risen to two. The police had already arrested Anil
Kumar, another BSF jawan, on the same charges on Thursday.

Prem Singh, a resident of
Nashehra Dhala village, located on the Taran Tarn border, has been arrested
from his residence. “Prem Singh, currently posted at Barmer in Rajasthan, had
come home on leave”, said the SSP.

The police have recovered
a Nokia phone and two SIM cards from him. Bholu had given him the phone, SIM
cards and Rs 50,000 for helping them in their nefarious activities.

The police said a
smuggler, Harchand, who died two months ago, had introduced Prem Singh to Bholu
and Sandip Singh.

A case under Sections 399
and 402 of the IPC and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act, has been registered at
the Kharar police station.

The accused was presented
before the Kharar court, which sent him on two-day police remand.

The UT police
arrested three persons after they tried to enter the 12 Wing, Air Force
station, from a gate at Behlana.

According to
the police, the accused have been identified as Mohamed Ajim, a resident of
Baltana, Mohammed Suhab and Imran Ahmed, both residents of Mani Majra.

Police
sources said the accused were triple-riding a motorcycle and when the security
personnel deployed outside the 12 Wing gate tried to stop them, they
accelerated towards the entry gate.

Sources said
the accused were interrogated by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as well as Army
officials. Police sources said the accused claimed that they thought of
visiting the Air Force station. A case
against the accused was registered at the Sector 31 police station. The accused were produced in the court and later,
released on bail.

In a setback
for Pakistan, Republican-controlled US Congress has stalled sale of eight F-16
fighter jets to Islamabad, amid growing anti-Pakistan sentiments on Capitol
Hill over its reluctance in taking action against terrorist groups.

Citing
diplomatic and congressional sources, the Dawn said US lawmakers had placed a
“hold” on the proposed sale.

“The hold reflects the
growing anti-Pakistan sentiments on Capitol Hill where it is now a routine to
see strong attacks on Pakistan and its policies during congressional hearings,”
the paper said.

Quoting the diplomatic
sources, the paper said the Obama administration “informally” notified Congress
of its intention to sell eight F-16s to Pakistan during Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif’s recent visit to Washington last October.

But the lawmakers used
clarification and information notices to delay the sale. “The administration
also received a ‘hold’ notice from the Senate, using this legislative process
to delay floor action on the proposed sale to Pakistan,” the paper said.

US officials had earlier
said that it would become very difficult for the US Government to convince the
Congress to approve the sale of F-16s to Pakistan if Islamabad is seen as
reluctant in taking action against these terrorist groups.

None of the officials in
Pakistan was ready to comment on the reported hold on sale of the aircraft
which forms the backbone of Pakistan Air Force. The hold, however, does not
kill the measure and it can still go through if the Obama administration
continues to push for the sale, the paper said.

“Sources on the Hill say
that since the Obama administration is keen on selling these aircraft to
Pakistan, it may ultimately succeed in undoing the hold,” it added.

At recent congressional
hearings, key US lawmakers raised a host of questions about the end use of the
F-16 aircraft and about the US relationship with Pakistan.

“Those F-16s and the
military equipment that we are providing Pakistan are being used against their
own people, just like they did against the people over there in Bangladesh,”
said Congressman Dan Rohrabacher.

Both lawmakers belong to
a growing lobby in Congress which not only oppose arms sales to Pakistan but
often urge the US to sever its ties with the country, the paper added. — PTI

Pakistani
military officers were involved in the attack on the Indian Consulate in
Mazar-i-Sharif in which assailants attempted to storm the mission building, a
senior Afghan police officer said today.

“I can say 99 per cent
that those attackers were from the Pakistani military and used special tactics
while conducting their operation," Sayed Kamal Sadat, police chief of
Balkh province, said of the attack that took place last week.

Sadat said the attackers
-- officers from across the border -- were well-trained military men who fought
Afghan security forces in a 25-hour siege. “The attackers were military
personnel. They were educated and well-prepared and had intelligence. They
fought us and only by Allah's grace were we able to control them and eliminate
them,” Sadat was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

The police officer said efforts
were underway to track down, identify and detain those who assisted the
attackers to gain access to the building that was opposite the Indian
Consulate.

"We are jointly
working with the NDS (National Directorate of Security) director and have spoken
about this -- especially as they came here not able to speak in Dari or Pashtu
but speaking in Urdu. It means obviously there is someone who guided those
attackers and helped the attackers," Sadat said.

An intense gunbattle
between the security forces and the attackers took place outside the Indian
Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif after assailants attempted to storm the mission
building on January 3.

The standoff ended on the
night of January 4 after the attackers who entered the building opposite the
Indian Consulate were killed. — PTI

Former Army
Chief General VK Singh's (Retd.) statement in response to Congress leader
Manish Tewari's comment on the alleged movement of the Army troops towards
Delhi in 2012 citing an Indian Express story.

Here's the
full text

A certain
right honourable out-of-work former MP a couple of days ago decided to make a
straight-faced 'admission' to the People of India that the insinuated Coup
story carried by a national newspaper in 2012 'was unfortunately true'.

In my
autobiography, Courage & Conviction, I had devoted two paragraphs to this
ludicrous story, which had been written out of pique or on instructions of his
mentor in the then PMO, by the editor of the newspaper (I believe he had felt
insulted that there was another media person - who he considered inferior to
him - present when he came to me to seek clarification about such rumours or
the pique was because I had refused to do the Walk the Talk programme of his).
The 'story' that was subsequently picked up by the entire national media was
nothing but pure bunkum and everyone in the chain of command knew it and said
so. Mr Coupta, the editor, in question, had egg all over his face and even
rookie journalists across the country were laughing at him.

Mr Coupta, of
course, having done the damage, has now spent the last few years trying to get
away from the lingering smell of his own creation, which will probably haunt
him for the rest of his life. Perhaps when his hour or reckoning comes, in his
conscience the Coup story will have competition from the sensationalized
article that he wrote about the Golden Temple attack in 1984. Anyone interested
in seeing what he had to say then can easily get the story from the archives.
He even had artillery firing from Jallianwala Bagh! 'National Interest'
indeed!!

Then along
comes Mr T, until yesterday the brash face of the party in power, who despite
knowing the facts of the case fully well, decides to brazenly tell a lie. He is
much too intelligent a person not to know what he was doing or saying and he is
a lawyer too. Let me also emphasize that by trying to get at me he has once
again caused collateral damage to the 13 lac strong patriotic force that
protects the country and so that he and Mr Coupta can sleep peacefully. In one
stroke he has cast doubts not only on the integrity of this force but also of
the government he was a part of and the then RM and PM - both men who are held
in high esteem by his own Party.

As has been
the case in the past, there are plenty of Mr Coupta's colleagues out there who
immediately focused on Mr T's remark and made shrill pronouncements on TV.
Before I knew it, I had mikes being thrust at me from all quarters asking for a
'byte'.

Despite being
sick and tired of constantly defending myself from fabricated stories, I once
again repeated that the story was pure rubbish and suggested to Mr T and his
followers to read my book.

Mr T promptly
retorted that he will certainly do so if I promise to read his book, which is
in the offing, whatever that means! Normally, out of politeness and as a
courtesy to a fellow human being, I would agree. But in Mr T's case, I see no
reason why I should, since he has already established, in the one stroke of
opportunistic sensationalism, that he has absolutely no regard for the truth.

Since we are
talking of military literature, may I suggest that Mr T reads General S. P. P.
Thorat's From Reveille to Retreat (republished version is in the offing),
Brigadier John Dalvi's Himalayan Blunder and the more recent book by Shiv Kunal
Verma 1962: The War That Wasn't. If he is honest with himself and can rise
above being a blind camp follower, he will see what the cynical politics of his
forefathers did to this country half a century ago.

Using the
bogey of a military coup and then by politicizing one of the finest armies in
the world, his party presided over an absolute disaster and it was men from my
own battalion, 2 Rajput, who paid the price with hundreds of other soldiers. We
lost 282 men in one hour while the remainder were wounded and were made POWs.
There were just a dozen or so survivors - that is why I'm getting 'antsy'. My
sworn oath to protect this country means one has to not just look beyond the
borders but also tackle the likes Mr T and Mr C.

It's a
vicious circle - Mr T gives Mr Coupta a certificate on the bidding of some
vested party; Mr Coupta goes on TV to give Mr T a slap on the back for being a
politician who has the guts to back him up and hey presto, the world is a happy
place as Mr T and Mr C are both back in the headlines. Apart from the venerable
old Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, the wise one who asked Pakistan to help him in
bringing down the elected Prime Minister of this country, I really cannot hear
anyone even from Mr T's party applauding.

As for the
media, especially a particularly shrill channel that seems to have a single
point agenda where the anchor suffers from a regular period of outrage everyday
at 9 p.m., my simple advice is please grow up. This was a laughable story in
2012, it is a laughable story today. May I remind you that in the words of
Rudyard Kipling, the unforgiving minute is sixty seconds worth of distance
run... so please stop wasting the time of this country. There are too many
pressing problems that need attention. Leave some of us alone to do our job.

Jai Jawan!
Discovery Channel to honour Indian Army on Republic Day with special show

New Delhi: An
hour-long special programme to celebrate the Army Day on 15 January and to
honour the heroism of the Indian soldiers posted at the Siachen glacier will be
premiered on television on 26 January.

Indian Army
in action. AFP

Indian Army
in action. AFP

The show
titled "Revealed: Siachen" will be aired on Discovery Channel.

"'Revealed:
Siachen' is dedicated to every Indian soldier for their valour and sacrifice
for the motherland. The programme will offer viewers first-hand testimonies
from the soldiers who have been at the battlefront," Rahul Johri,
executive vice president and general manager - South Asia, Discovery Networks
Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

The show will
take viewers through the extreme frontline and the highest battleground in the
world and what it takes to keep the Siachen glacier secure and peaceful.

The show will
present chronicles of the soldiers and their challenges to manage the
battlefield where temperatures often reach 60 degrees Celsius below the
freezing point.

"Siachen
glacier will always be one of the most compelling experiences for me and to my
mind for all the Indian soldiers who have served tours of duty there,"
said Col. Narendra Kumar, first surveyor of Siachen for the Indian Army